Operation Sports Forums - Poor Announcing = Disappointing Presentation

Let me preface this with 2 things ...

1. I enjoy playing Madden '12.
2. I havent been on this board very much so excuse me if I missed a previous thread on the topic.

However, one of the biggest things to me in a sports telecast/video game is the announcing. Maybe we have become spoiled by the superior commentary in games like NBA 2k11, but you just feel like the announcers are part of the experience, telling you relevant stories about the players, talking about standings and games around the league, and staying up to tune with the action. The audio is as much a part of the "presentation" as a new replay camera, new kicking camera, etc.

However, Madden commentary is a disappointing trainwreck. I'm playing with the Lions in franchise, so every time I start a game on offense, I know I'm gonna hear "They call him Megatron, Calvin Johnson." Or when he breaks away for a touchdown, you will hear some combo of "breakaway speed" or "he's got get away from the cop speed," multiple times, and then he will scream touchdown about 5 seconds after you score, sometimes in the middle of when you are kicking a PAT. Commentary never comments on a players performance, or new cutscenes (like standings or stats), and are usually mis-guided in their statements ("he took a chance and it went for a big gain" after my linebacker intercepted the ball and went for a pick 6.)

Fixing commentary is such a small part in the game, especially when they have been sitting on many of the same lines for 2 or 3 years now (you can tell the difference because Cris Collinsworth often has different tones in his voice if he says back to back lines).

I wish someone could see from EA, fixing presentation does not just mean making 3d blades of grass, or shadows on the field. Its not just the visual experience, but it needs to be part of the "complete" experience.

Maybe someone will read this.